Yeah that sucks, Aether for me personally has always been stable. I think I've had connection issues maybe a total of... two times in the last six years. Still though its freaking Cactuar which is the same size as Gilga nowadays so I expect issues on launch.

I still haven't even decided what I want to level first, Black Mage or Red Mage -_-.

I still haven't figured it out, but EU datacenters (like Chaos or the EU wow DCs) are always shit compared to the NA datacenters (Like Aether and NA), maybe it's just that their datacenters over there in general are worse?

I have to say, as much as I love everything about Dragoon's concept, style, weapons, etc...the gameplay of Samurai really does feel like a big step up in job design by Square. It's almost like a class from another game entirely. Makes me hopeful for the future, I suppose.

In what way? I don't think that is true.
Doesn't feel much different other than the fact that it's a very simplistic version of a melee class compared to the rest. While I like QoL stuff and I truely think many classes are overcomplicated, the lack of positionals and the rather easy to manage ressource SAMs have is a tad bit underwhelming.

If it were "faster" somehow, I would agree. But right now and in Shadowbringers and don't really see what SAM is doing different.
It's the same old design:

You start with your combo opener, build up your maintenance buffs, build up your ressources, use your CDs asap and unleash your ressources at the correct time. (It's not supposed to sound like a dumbed down version - but this is really how many classes are designed on purpose and I don't see how SAM is any different. It's not like you have "choices" either when it comes to how you start your rotation etc... you want your self-buffs, you are actually forced into a set rotation due to Iaijutsu usage)

I'll certainly switch back from SAM to DRG in Shadowbringers.
Their movement is still the greatest and most fun to utilize (I prefer Elusive jump/jumps over the SAM movement combo) and with Shadowbringers, they don't start with weak ass "160 potency" (290/330 true thrust / raiden thrust is where it's at) attacks anymore after downtime/travel... this is also something I absolutely hate about SAM (damn you, Hakaze) and all the other classes - it's no fun at all to start your combos with a weak attack like that.

Go live is 2 AM here. Will still eat "breakfast" but it probably won't be anything big. Going to sleep a little early Thursday. No way in hell would I be able to pull an all nighter without falling asleep 5 minutes after logging in.

I took the day off for it, have the vacation days to burn. It's turning into a much needed vacation day anyway after the last week I've had. Go live time launch day shenanigans are part of the experience for me at this point. Looking forward to whatever happens, this forum and reddit are likely to be fun to read around then if things aren't going well.

Same. I have days to burn. I get 35 a year + 5 carry over from last, and I've only used like 9 so far. I work from home a few days a week this year and it's really made me not feel like I need days off TBH.

Regarding ShB I don't know why I thought it was launching at noon. Looks like 5 AM EST for me. Not sure if I'll wake up that early, but maybe like 7.

Regarding ShB I don't know why I thought it was launching at noon. Looks like 5 AM EST for me. Not sure if I'll wake up that early, but maybe like 7.

Early access is at 10:00AM here. I don't expect the servers to be up in time though.

But remember guys... you'll be max level and soon you'll have nothing to do anymore.
It's not like the first few weeks have a lot of content. Never had in FFXIV.
So at least don't rush believing you'll somehow get a gear advantage or anything silly like that, we all know that this is not going to happen .

Just be sure to stay ahead of the curve so you aren't stuck with some weirdo randoms that can't beat the last MSQ Story boss!

Regarding customization - I found FF14's to be very good. It's lacking in some areas for sure, but it hits all the high notes and looks good doing it.

It hits all the right notes, but most of the characters I came up with ended up somewhere on the generic spectrum of character design. And that's fine, I guess. But I was wanting something a little bit more visually striking without having to resort to anime hair cuts. Even WoW with it's more limited character creation has Mohawks, Mad Scientist styles, Marge Simpson haircuts and so on. It has facial hair choices that range from clean shaven, handle bar moustaches and full length beards. I know those are binary choices, but they cover a much larger range of potential appearance types than FF14's choice of sliders to adjust.

Originally Posted by Katchii

I agree that, overall, FFXIV is somewhat lacking in character customization options as far as the model itself is concerned....but I can't really name another game that really does the job THAT much better besides Black Desert and Blade and Soul, and frankly those are TOO in depth IMO, but I've only really cared about having a character I was happy looking at, and most of the time some slight tweaking of a default model I'm happy with to give it enough individuality so that it's not obviously the default model is good enough.

I'm not upset about my character at all. But I'd have prefered more ways to make him My character rather than just A character within the world. I've found it quite hard to make a character that really expresses who I'd like to be within the world of FF14.

I don't think the animations help much either. Having them be identical regardless of race and gender, while certainly a very practical decision, does lead to everyone looking very samey while in combat too. Were it not for the fact he's always in the center of the screen, I'd be hard pressed to pick him out of a group during a dungeon run.

Early access is at 10:00AM here. I don't expect the servers to be up in time though.

But remember guys... you'll be max level and soon you'll have nothing to do anymore.
It's not like the first few weeks have a lot of content. Never had in FFXIV.
So at least don't rush believing you'll somehow get a gear advantage or anything silly like that, we all know that this is not going to happen .

Just be sure to stay ahead of the curve so you aren't stuck with some weirdo randoms that can't beat the last MSQ Story boss!

3 combat classes at least, all crafting classes and all gathering classes to level before savage... i'll have plenty to do.

Early access is at 10:00AM here. I don't expect the servers to be up in time though.

But remember guys... you'll be max level and soon you'll have nothing to do anymore.
It's not like the first few weeks have a lot of content. Never had in FFXIV.
So at least don't rush believing you'll somehow get a gear advantage or anything silly like that, we all know that this is not going to happen .

Just be sure to stay ahead of the curve so you aren't stuck with some weirdo randoms that can't beat the last MSQ Story boss!

Contrary to popular belief I take my time leveling, but I very much so enjoy the leveling process. I watch cutscenes and read some text (not all).

If there was a game that found a way to perpetually create a never ending engaging leveling scheme I'd play it religiously (if it was good). My dream MMO posited a skill creation system as a method of building it. Levels granted skill points you invested to create new skills and empower existing ones. Things like adding effects, traits, reducing costs, cooldowns, increasing recovery frames, missile speeds, etc. Then you use content to supplement horizontal progression (i.e. skills can only be assigned 3 traits, but by doing X quest or Y scenario you unlock expansions to skillsets allowing you to grow in power outside of itemization).

I'll level my ninja to 80 first. After that gonna unlock Dancer and Gunbreaker. After that the plan is to level everything to 80. And finally do all the beast tribe dailies. I know I won't be able to do all this till 5.1 comes, but a man can hope.

I'm not upset about my character at all. But I'd have prefered more ways to make him My character rather than just A character within the world. I've found it quite hard to make a character that really expresses who I'd like to be within the world of FF14.

I don't think the animations help much either. Having them be identical regardless of race and gender, while certainly a very practical decision, does lead to everyone looking very samey while in combat too. Were it not for the fact he's always in the center of the screen, I'd be hard pressed to pick him out of a group during a dungeon run.

While true, I highly doubt additional characterization options would really change that or affect it in any meaningful way, in MOST situations. All the gear and animation flare on the battlefield really obfuscate the little bits of personilization you add to your character. That perfect facial structure, hip proportions, arm length, etc...you created in character creation are all kind of lost in the fray. The only exceptions in FFXIV would obviously be the cutscenes where you are able to see those kinds of details. But IMO, those moments aren't enough to warrant the sheer amount of time and effort they'd have to spend to improve the character creation tool in any measurable way. A few additional options tacked onto the existing tool, like adding eyebrows to some models, is one thing, adding more details to let you have sliders or whatnot is a whole other story.

If I may, I think the reason why player characters don't look all that distinct from each other is due to the realistically proportioned characters and the fine detailed equipment.

In WoW, you have a wide variety of silhouettes to choose from, the widest variety I've ever seen in a game. The picture I found only shows the front, but each race is immediately recognizable from any angle. A Tauren isn't just a hulked up human; they have a completely different skeletal structure, with their bent back legs and long reach necks. Another distinction is how each race stands up: some races like Humans, Gnomes, Dwarves, and Pandaren stand up straight, while others have hunches to various degrees. The Orc have their own distinctive hunch, the Tauren look like hulking beasts, the Worgen look like hunched over monsters, and so on. You have races whose backs arch backward, such as the Blood Elves and the Draenei, and so on. Furthermore, WoW's artstyle favors big, blocky, simple shapes. For example, you can see the immediately see the yellow diamonds on my Tauren Paladin's shoulders even when zoomed out at max range, and the overall shape of the shoulders are incredibly distinctive. WoW has gotten a lot of mileage out of making many different shoulder shapes.

When I look at FFXIV's player characters, they are more uniformly designed. Everyone stands up straight and everyone is basically a variation on a human. Unless they are a Lalafell, I can't immediately recognize a player character's race from a distance. Hyur, Mi'qote, Au Ra, and Elezen all blend together (though Elezen at least have their elongated necks and Au Ra have horns on their heads). It's also why I'm sort of iffy on the Hrothgar, as while they are ostensibly more animal like than the Mi'qote, their figure is just a bulky human. No distinctive skeletal structure like a Tauren or immediately recognizable hunch like a Charr from GW2, etc. And then comes the artstyle: equipment in FFXIV don't have the wacky shapes of WoW equipment, and the details on the equipment are fine and subtle, where you don't really notice them unless you zoom in close. I've found that the most effective way to alter my character's silhouette - to make my character stand out - is to give my character a hat, as the hats have the widest variety of shapes and make up a very large portion of the character's silhouette.

In what way? I don't think that is true.
Doesn't feel much different other than the fact that it's a very simplistic version of a melee class compared to the rest. While I like QoL stuff and I truely think many classes are overcomplicated, the lack of positionals and the rather easy to manage ressource SAMs have is a tad bit underwhelming.

If it were "faster" somehow, I would agree. But right now and in Shadowbringers and don't really see what SAM is doing different.
It's the same old design:

You start with your combo opener, build up your maintenance buffs, build up your ressources, use your CDs asap and unleash your ressources at the correct time. (It's not supposed to sound like a dumbed down version - but this is really how many classes are designed on purpose and I don't see how SAM is any different. It's not like you have "choices" either when it comes to how you start your rotation etc... you want your self-buffs, you are actually forced into a set rotation due to Iaijutsu usage)

I'll certainly switch back from SAM to DRG in Shadowbringers.
Their movement is still the greatest and most fun to utilize (I prefer Elusive jump/jumps over the SAM movement combo) and with Shadowbringers, they don't start with weak ass "160 potency" (290/330 true thrust / raiden thrust is where it's at) attacks anymore after downtime/travel... this is also something I absolutely hate about SAM (damn you, Hakaze) and all the other classes - it's no fun at all to start your combos with a weak attack like that.

Mostly because DRG follows the standard old style of just doing the rotation from start to finish until the enemy is dead. SAM has resources to manage and choose how to spend.

Don't get me wrong, it's not rocket surgery or anything. But at least you can choose to just spend those resources as you get them, pool them to burn something down, spend them on AoE damage or to burn a priority target, and it's just something else to manage and keep on top of paying attention to. It's that little extra to keep you engaged beyond 123123 and allows the player to make decisions.

That and Gyoten isn't exactly a revolutionary thing, but it *feels* very different in this game because high mobility just hasn't been a widely available thing in the past. Having a fairly long range gap closer on a very short cooldown just feels bonkers in XIV.

When I look at FFXIV's player characters, they are more uniformly designed. Everyone stands up straight and everyone is basically a variation on a human. Unless they are a Lalafell, I can't immediately recognize a player character's race from a distance. Hyur, Mi'qote, Au Ra, and Elezen all blend together (though Elezen at least have their elongated necks and Au Ra have horns on their heads). It's also why I'm sort of iffy on the Hrothgar, as while they are ostensibly more animal like than the Mi'qote, their figure is just a bulky human. No distinctive skeletal structure like a Tauren or immediately recognizable hunch like a Charr from GW2, etc. And then comes the artstyle: equipment in FFXIV don't have the wacky shapes of WoW equipment, and the details on the equipment are fine and subtle, where you don't really notice them unless you zoom in close. I've found that the most effective way to alter my character's silhouette - to make my character stand out - is to give my character a hat, as the hats have the widest variety of shapes and make up a very large portion of the character's silhouette.

Actually that's not entirely true. They each DO have their own skeleton. Which is why we got two gender locked races. Yoshida explained it in a rather long forum post. Each piece of gear has to be modified for each of the races and sexes so there is a hard cap of how many race/sex combo can exist with the current content volume and schedule. Any more and they had to cut down on patch content or increase the wait between them. So the seventh race is the last. But since Beastlike race and Viera both rank highly in polls, they decided to go this way.

Man, you guys are still around here talking about vidya gaemz? Buncha nerds.

My job's changing a bit with one of our team members leaving, so I've stepped up to Savage Daily Grind and won't be able to see what's being talked about very much during the day and I've never checked MMO-Champ as much at home or weekends. Right when the expansion's releasing.

Please be kind to each other and do not give @Remilia gray hairs in the interim. I'm not gone, I just can't chat as much for a while and I'll miss you crazy folks during the crazy time of a new expansion! T-T

That said, I took next week off for vacation scheduled months ago, but I'm not hopping on forums when there's MSQ to enjoy, after all.